Opera-chair.



PATENTED JUNE 20, 1905.

- M. F. LEVY.

OPERA CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 17, 1904.

I kid? UNITED STATES Patented June 20, 1905.

PATENT OFEIcE.

OPERA-CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 792,834, dated June 20, 1905.

Application filed August 17, 1904. Serial No. 221,032.

To a whom it 772/012] concern: I

Be it known that I, MAURICE F. LEVY, aciti- Zen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Opera-Chairs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being-had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in opera-chairs; and it consists in the novel construction of chair more fully set forth in thespecification and pointed outin the claims. In the drawings, Figure 1 is a'front elevation of the chair, showing parts-in normal position. Fig. 2 is a similar view with back and seat folded to one side. Fig. 3 is a side elevation. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a vertical section on line 5 5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a perspective of one of the locking wings carried by the back. Fig. 7 is a sectional detail on line 7 7 of Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a perspective of the opposite locking-wingcarried by the back. Fig. 9 is a sectional detail on line 9 9 of Fig. 11. Fig. 10 is a rear elevation of one end of the hinge-pin carried by the back and the leaf through which it passes,- the base of the standard extension supporting the hinge-pin being partly in section; and Fig. 11 is a sectional detail on line ll 11 of Fig. 9, showing the opposite end of the parts illustrated in Fig. 10.

The object of my invention is to construct a theater-chair which can be swung to aposition to form a clear passage-way between the side-supporting standards thereof whereby in case of emergency the theater or hall can be instantly vacated by the audience without the possibility of a panic or danger of crushing or injury to its occupants.

In detail the invention may be described as follows:

Referring to the drawings, 1 1 represent the sides or supporting-standards of the chair, and 1 l the upper extensions thereof. The base of one of the extensions 1 is provided with a longitudinal slot 2 for the free admission of the adjacent end of the pivotal or hinge pin 3 of the leaves 4 4 and 5. The leaves 4 4 are secured in the rear of the base of the back 6 of the seat, adjacent the sides thereof, and the leaf 5 is hinged between the leaves 4 4 and has secured thereto the seat 7. The seat is free to swing to and from the back between the arm-rests 8, formed with the extensions 1, as seen by dotted position of the seat in Fig. 5. One of the standards is provided with an open or forked loop 9, which receives the free member of an angle-piece 10, said angle-piece being free to pass through the slot of the loop, permitting the seat to be raised, as indicated, and supporting the seat on that side when the seat is down. The opposite side of the seat is provided with a lug 11, which rests in a notched bracket 12, carried by the opposite standard, thereby supporting the seat on that side when the latter is down. Formed with the leaf 4, which is directly behind the forked loop 9, is a rearwardly-curved pin or pivot 13, which rests in a bearing-bracket 14, formed on the inner face of the base of the adjacent extension 1, in which bracket the back 6, with the pin 13 as a center, is free to revolve in a plane parallel to itself or in a plane connecting the extensions l l. The extension 1, to which the bracket 14 is secured, is provided with a longitudinal way or slot 15, through which the back is free to pass when swung in the plane indicated, the back being thus capable of tilting through said slot 15 until it assumes a position at right angles to its normal position, Figs. 2 and 4. The back in this position leaves a clear passage-way between the standards 1 l for the easy and ready exit of the audience. In swinging the back to the position referred to the angle-piece l0 freely revolves in the rounded loop of the casting 9, the larger dimension of the part 10 received by the loop being (for the tilted position of the back) at right angles to the open narrow slit of the said casting 9, Fig. 4, so that the seat 7, while free to revolve with the back in the lateral swing of the latter, remains locked against any attempt to pull the seat upward, so that in swinging the back to the position shown in Fig. 2 the seat will retain the same angular relation thereto as it had when the back was in its normal position. Of course in swinging the back from its normal position the lug 11 of the seat is raised off its supporting-bracket 12 to be again received thereby when the parts resume their normal position. In thus resuming their normal position between the standards 1 and their extensions 1 the parts are rigidly locked on one side by a wing 16 on one of the upper corners of the back entering a notch formed for its reception at the upper end. of the opposite standard extension 1 and by a second wing l6 entering the way 15 of the opposite extension, the wing 16 being further provided with a lip or flange 17, Fig. 8, which bears against the side face of the adjacent extension 1.

It will be seen from the foregoing that by swinging the backs of every alternate row of seats in a theater to the positions indicated in Fig. 2 a series of passage-ways or aisles will be formed between the standards 1 1, allowing for quick escape of the audience in case of fire or for a quick emptying of the theater for other purposes, if desirable. In practice the back of one seat when swung outwardly, as indicated in Fig. 2, will fold to one side of the back of the seat of the next adjacent row, the seats of such adjacent row being arranged slightly out of alinement with the row on either side to permit the results here indicated. Thus the back and seat both swing in a vertical plane, the back passing through the way 15 and being finally arrested by the seat 7, which bears against the arm-rest 8, against which it has been swung, Fig. 2.

I do not, of course, wish to be limited to the precise details here shown, as they may in a measure be departed from without in any wise affecting the nature orspirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. A chair comprising suitable standards, a

back mounted pivotally to one of the standards and revolving outwardly therefrom in a plane parallel to itself, means for locking the back to the standards when in its normal position, a seat hinged to said back and capable of oscillating therewith in its normal relation thereto, and means for supporting the seat when in its normal position, substantially as set forth.

2. A chair comprising suitable standards, extensions forming part of the same, a back for the chair, hinge-leaves at the base of the back, an intermediate leaf between the aforesaid leaves, a hinge-pin connecting the several leaves, a seat connected to the intermediate leaf, a pin formed on one of the leaves carried by the back, a bearing on the adjacent standard for the reception of said pin, a way formed in the extension adjacent to the pin-bearing, the back being rotatable about said pin in a plane parallel to itself and free to pass through the way formed in the extension, a forked loop on one of the standards, an angle-piece carried by the seat on the adjacent side and received by the forked loop, said angle-piece being rotatable within the loop, a lug on the opposite side of the seat, a bracket for the support of said lug, and aslot formed in the opposite extension for receiving the adjacent end of the hinge-pin carried by the back, the parts operating substantially as, and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MAURICE F. LEVY. 

